


I Like Shiny Things, But I'd Marry You With Paper Rings

by betheflame



Series: Blind Dates & True Love [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, CapSeptender, Community: cap_ironman, Deaf Steve Rogers, Fluff, Found Family, M/M, Stony Bingo, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, so fluffy you will die
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-01
Updated: 2019-09-01
Packaged: 2020-10-04 19:34:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20476364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/betheflame/pseuds/betheflame
Summary: Rhodey: I just confirmed with Sam that he’s going to make sure he cooks tonight and that his entire team is briefed. I’m heading over now to strategically arrange a fuck ton of ficus trees to block them from gen pop.Pepper: They’re not getting engaged in a prison, Jimmy.Rhodey: Tony Stark and Steve Rogers show up to Circe on a Saturday night in May and you watch every person in that restaurant turn into someone I’d rather arrest than eat with.****In which Tony and Steve get engaged, but they're kind of extra about it, because they are always themselves.





	I Like Shiny Things, But I'd Marry You With Paper Rings

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to T.Swift for the final piece of the plot puzzle that I needed to get this out. 
> 
> This can be read as a stand-alone (I think), but it's certainly richer if you head back a few clicks.
> 
> I am overwhelmed by the love for this series, so thanks to everyone who asked for this world to keep going. 
> 
> [HogwartsToAlexandria](http://www.archiveofourown.com/user/hogwartstoalexandria) is an absolute star of a cheer-reader/beta and my thanks for her support is eternal. 
> 
> Stony Bingo: Y5 "Family Traditions"  
CapSeptender Entry

Tony fiddled with the ring box and peered at Bucky. “So, you think this is a good idea?”

Bucky smiled and nodded. “Stark, he came home from your first date talking about your grandchildren. He’s kinda a sure thing at this point.”

Tony nodded, but the nerves had clearly not subsided. Bucky’s smile shifted softer and he continued. “I nearly shit my pants when I asked Nat.”

Tony brightened slightly. “Yeah?”

Bucky nodded and took his phone out of his pocket. “Here’s a video I sent to Steve about ten minutes before I did it. I keep it to remind myself that she’s my miracle and I shouldn’t take it for granted. His response is the next video.”

Tony hit play and Bucky’s face filled the screen - a younger version with longer hair and scruff that was leaning towards a beard. 

_“Stevie, I’m bricking it. I’m completely and utterly bricking it. What does she see in me? What can I possibly offer this woman who needs nothing? I mean, she is so good, Steve, she is so kind, and loving, and despite all the bullshit her parents pulled and all the mindfucks of Russia and all of that, and I know you guys think she’s cold and unfeeling, but she’s not, she’s amazing, and I’m going to ask her to be my goddamn wife in ten minutes and she is going to say no because I’m a mess and I’m bricking it Stevie. Talk me back into my tree.”_

Tony grinned as he looked up at Bucky and then hit play on Steve’s video. 

_“James. Buchannan. Barnes. Stop it. First of all, if you’re using weird British anachronisms, you have crossed into a place you need to come back from. You cannot propose to Nat when you are this in your head. So snap out of it._

_"Buck, she’s so in love with you that it’s embarrassing for the rest of us to watch. She trusts no one the way she trusts you. No one. You are her end of the line, buddy, and all of us know it. And what can you offer her? You are her home. What do you give the woman who needs nothing? A partner to need nothing with. Go and be her home, go and promise her forever, go and ask if she’ll promise it back. Because she will.”_

As soon as Video-Steve stopped speaking, the Bucky in front of him began. “Stark, he is your best partner, your best home, and that’s what he wants to be for you. He sees that in you, he trusts you, and he is the best version of himself when he’s with you. He’s so ready to do forever with you that he can taste it, I promise. Now go get your boy and we’ll all be in our places by 8.”

Tony rolled his lips over his teeth and then worried his bottom lip, an expression that Bucky had learned meant that Tony was about to cry but couldn’t possibly bear it. It was the same one he’d had the first time Bucky had placed his daughter into Tony’s arms. 

“Thanks, Barnes,” he finally settled onto a smile and headed out the door. 

As soon as Tony was safely out of his office, Bucky grabbed his phone. 

_Bucky: No fucking clue on this end. _

_Pepper: I swear to God these two have one brain cell between the two of them. _

_Nat: Oh, I think that’s generous. _

_Bucky: Steve is going to loooooooose it at the ring. _

_Pepper: You gonna share with the class?_

_Bucky: You gonna tell me what Stevie got for Tony?_

_Rhodey: I just confirmed with Sam that he’s going to make sure he cooks tonight and that his entire team is briefed. I’m heading over now to strategically arrange a fuck ton of ficus trees to block them from gen pop. _

_Pepper: They’re not getting engaged in a prison, Jimmy. _

_Rhodey: Tony Stark and Steve Rogers show up to Circe on a Saturday night in May and you watch every person in that restaurant turn into someone I’d rather arrest than eat with. _

_Bucky: I set up all the camera equipment last night, so they’ll have this moment forever. _

_Nat: I’m going to blame the hormones when I sob hysterically, we all know that, right?_

_Bucky: Absolutely, babe. Second pregnancies, I hear, are just rough on handling happily ever afters with stoicism. _

_Nat: Pep, I got a husband for sale. _

_Pepper: What time is everyone getting there? Steve asked me to be there at 6:30 because he thinks I’m taking pictures. _

_Bucky: Tony’s getting there at 7 to “set up”. _

_Rhodey: Okay, I’ll call Sam right now and we’ll solve this._

_Pepper: Steve is planning on proposing after dinner, which is going to be annoying. _

_Bucky: Oh, Tony’s starting the night with it, so that’ll kick things off quickly. _

_Pepper: Okay, so maybe ¾ of a brain cell. _

_Nat: It’s still odd to me that we’re doing this when they’ve been legally married for three years. _

_Pepper: Tony’s been a dramatic and illogical mess since birth, so I’m honestly not. _

_Rhodey: Seconded. Also, Tony’s still kinda convinced that now that Steve doesn’t need post-op appointments anymore, he’ll leave him. _

_Bucky: Demoted to ½ a brain cell. _

_Nat: Well, let’s get these two engaged then. _

________________

Steve checked his pocket for the ninth time as he and Tony got in the elevator from the penthouse down to where the car was waiting. He’d been very strategic about this proposal, waiting until he didn’t “need” Tony or his money so that Tony’s most insecure voices couldn’t drown out the evidence of their love.

After their last big fight, they had decided to go to City Hall the following day and started the process of getting a marriage license. Their ceremony was quick, on one of Rhodey’s lunch breaks from his role as a captain in the NYPD, and Tony paid off quite a few people to make sure it was a sealed record. As soon as the insurance approved it all, Steve started the process of getting his implant replaced. 

Which ended up taking two and a half years. 

The first surgery had complications, then there was recovery from that, then the next one he got a staph infection and that took a while, and then the implant gave him migraines, so they had to decide if he went on migraine meds or got a new implant, and then, and then… 

But three weeks previous to the elevator ride, Steve had gotten the all clear from his entire medical team. He had left the meeting and gone straight to Sam’s apartment to ask him to help with the plan. 

_“I don’t know much about my family as people,” Steve told his friend. “But before Ma died, she told me a lot about the old traditions that her and her siblings had grown up with back in Galway. The one that matters now is that you always ask someone to marry you over food.”_

_“Well,” Sam grinned, “that’s certainly something I can help with. You want it at Circe, I’d imagine, right, first date and all?”_

_“Yeah,” Steve smiled. “I mean, we love your other places, and we’re super proud of you-”_

_Sam waved his hand to interrupt. “I haven’t cooked in that kitchen in a hot minute. It’ll be fun to go back. So what else?”_

_“I can do everything else, I just need a little privacy, if you can manage it?”_

_“It’s my fucking restaurant. Of course I can manage it.”_

And now the day had arrived. He’d told Bucky earlier that he was completely bricking it and Bucky had smiled at the memory. He’d clapped Steve on the back and told him that Tony was going to say yes. 

God, Steve hoped Bucky was right.

________________

Tony found himself channeling every ounce of training he had in public personas and how to school his face into a serene expression as he and Steve took their seats at Circe. He’d worked out with Sam to do the proposal at the very beginning of the meal - thank fuck - so he only had a few more moments to wait.

_“I need an amuse bouche,” Tony said to Sam. _

_“You’re going to dictate my gift to my diners?” Sam cocked an eyebrow. _

_“Exactly,” Tony grinned. _

_“Well, Stark, that’s pretty on brand, so have at it.”_

_Tony chuckled. “I just need it to be a meatball.”_

_“A meatball.”_

_Tony nodded. “It’s tradition in the Carbonel family - my mom’s side - to propose over spaghetti and meatballs. Like, six generations back or something, but I hate the Lady and the Tramp vibe about it, so just the meatball. One each.”_

_Sam nodded sagely. “I got a friend with a super Italian nonna, so I’ll get a proper Tuscan recipe.” _

_“Thanks, Sam,” Tony smiled, his shoulders slumping with relief. _

_“Don’t mention it, man,” Sam clapped him on the back. “You two fuckwits belong with each other.”_

He and Steve sat down and made some small talk - Tony had no idea about what - when he saw Sam emerge from the corner of his eye. 

“Okay, quick bite to start off with,” Sam placed the small dishes in front of them. “A bit heavier than I normally do, but a special request from Stark trumped my plans.” With a wink, the other man was gone. 

Steve blinked a few times at Tony, confusion evident on his face. 

Here goes nothing, Stark, Tony said to himself. Clearing his throat, he looked at Steve. “Steven, can I say - wait, no - Steve, can I-”

“Tony,” Steve’s brow furrowed in concern. “What’s the matter?”

“My family,” Tony blurted, deciding to just dive right in, “is a mess, but you know that, and I don’t know a whole lot about them, but I do know one thing and that’s my mother loved her family. She went back to Italy to visit her grandparents as much as she could, and she would have loved you. I mean, she would love your art, we’ve talked about that - but she’d also just love you.”

“I wish I had gotten to meet her,” Steve replied with a soft smile that only served to make Tony more nervous because it just made Steve look so perfect. 

“She had one rule for big celebrations,” Tony continued. “There had to be enough food for people to feel like they were being spoiled, and at least one of the courses had to involve a meatball.”

Steve’s brow furrowed. “Okaaaayyyy.”

“She had two reasons for this. The first was that a meatball was peasant food where she was from - basic, nothing fancy, can feed you for cheap, feels like home. The second was that it was really representative of family for her - all these different pieces that are better when they’re together than when they’re apart.”

Tony smiled and dug into his pocket. “I bought this in Morocco, that first trip I took after we met, because I knew then. I like shiny things, and fancy things, but I knew that this ring, this was the ring I needed to give you, because I already knew that we were better together than we were apart.” 

Tony produced a small paper envelope and tipped a woven ring out into his palm. “I got this in a sook in Fez - and if my Arabic is close to correct - it’s made from fabric of old Bedouin tents. It’s sturdy, it protects people, and it makes them feel safe. That’s who you are for me, Steven Grant Rogers. You are my best choice and I just want to keep making it forever. Will you marry me?”

Tony hadn’t been brave enough to make eye contact with Steve until that moment, when he slid down on one knee next to the table and looked up into his boyfriend’s eyes to find tears - but also an unreadable expression. 

Steve reached into his pocket and smiled. “We have a tradition in the Campbell family - my Ma’s side - that all major life decisions are made over meals. So, when I decided to ask you this question, I knew it had to be over food.”

He slid down to join Tony on his knee on the floor and opened a ring box. Inside was a ring with a woven design of gold, red, and blue that took Tony’s breath away. 

“I asked a friend of mine from art school to make this. The red is you, my fiery inventor who runs the world from his phone and sends competitors cowering, and the blue is for me, because I like to think that I calm those fires and provide a cooling element for the days your life is too much. The gold is because when we’re together we’re unbreakable and I don’t want to hear about the melting point of gold, I am an artist and we deal in metaphors, so can it,” Steve said with a grin as Tony laughed. 

“So, Anthony Edward Stark, you are _my_ best choice and I want to keep making it forever. Will _you_ marry _me_?”

“We really both did this,” Tony whispered as he slid his ring onto Steve’s finger and Steve returned the favor. “We really did.”

Steve leaned forward to pull Tony into a kiss as they whispered their ‘yes’s to each other for a few moments. 

“Does that mean that Bucky is hiding here somewhere? Because I have Pepper lurking somewhere.”

“We’re all here, you idiots,” Nat called from their hiding place and the men laughed. Soon, their whole family was gathered around them, stories from the previous weeks spilling out all over each other. Nat handed Steve his goddaughter as she pulled Tony into a hug. Bucky winked at Steve and Pepper wiped her tears with a handkerchief that Tony thought looked suspiciously like his friend Happy’s. 

The men both felt they were drowning in joy, which was potentially hyperbolic, but no one had ever accused either Tony or Steve of being subtle. 

Sam quickly brought out a few more tables and the intimate dinner for two turned into a family feast for seven as they all gathered around and toasted to Tony and Steve and the future. 

_Hey_, Tony signed to Steve across the table as their friends laughed around them. 

_Hey_, Steve signed back. 

_I love you, almost husband._

Steve smiled. _Did you forget the sign for fiancée?_

_I don’t forget things._

_I love you, fiancée._

_Back at you, future husband. Forever._

**Author's Note:**

> Next installment will be the bingo fill for "no one asked you to look, Tony" - so place your bets as to where these bozos are taking us next. 
> 
> Find me on [Tumblr](http://betheflame.tumblr.com) or [Twitter](http://www.twitter.com/betheflame1). You can yell at me to write faster, if you please, it frequently works.


End file.
